Backcountry Escape (Badlands Cops Book 3)

by Nicole Helm

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She scrambled forward and began to work on the ropes with the knife. “My brain’s in a fog. I can’t seem to think.”

  “You’re fine. You saved me. You’re all right.”

  “Saved... I... Did I kill him?”

  They looked over at Ace. He’d stopped writhing, but his eyes were open and full of hate. Directed at them.

  “Get me untied, Felicity,” Gage said flatly.

  “I’m trying. I’m trying.” She was practically chanting it, but he could feel her shaking behind him as she worked.

  Gage kept his eyes on Ace. Ace didn’t move. When he opened his mouth as if he was trying to speak, little more than a groan escaped.

  All this time, Gage had dreamed of Ace’s end, and he didn’t know what to feel in the face of it actually happening.

  When Felicity finally managed to cut and untie the bonds, Gage at least felt relief instead of uncertainty. He stumbled a little forward, shook the rope off, then turned to Felicity.

  She was staring at Ace, anguish written all over her. She kept looking at Ace as she spoke. “I texted your brothers. I followed your trail, surely they’ll be able to. But we should head back if we can. I don’t know what to do about...” She trailed off, swallowed and then looked up at him. “You’re so hurt.”

  He held her face in his hands and studied her eyes. Too unfocused. She was in shock and they had to get out of here. She shook underneath his palms as if she was falling apart.

  He wouldn’t let that happen. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Felicity. Hey, I’m here.”

  She inhaled sharply and let it out on something like a sob even though no tears fell onto her cheeks. “I left my father to die. I shot Ace. You’re so hurt.” She looked up at him imploringly. “I don’t know what to do.”

  He wanted to scoop her up and carry her away, but he’d be lucky to walk out of this cave on his own. “We just gotta get out of here. You got a message to my brothers. They’ll be here. Let’s get out of this cave. You just need some fresh air. Come on.” He let go of her face and winced at the blood he’d accidentally left there.

  His body screamed in pain, but he couldn’t let her see it. He took a step and tried to breathe through the shooting pain, but with the next step his leg buckled. He cursed and glared over at Ace, who’d made some gurgle of a sound. Almost a laugh.

  He was smiling, but he wasn’t moving. The color was draining out of his face and he just lay there, clutching the bleeding wound.

  “You’re going to die. A slow, painful death,” Gage offered.

  Ace’s smile didn’t die. It widened. “And won’t that be funny?” Ace said, his voice a rasp. “This little girl with more strength of spirit than you worthless weaklings did what you couldn’t.”

  Gage struggled to his feet with Felicity’s help. She didn’t speak as she helped him limp toward the cave opening. Gage refused to engage with his father.

  Gage made it without falling again, though the opening of the cave required some climbing that had him trying to bite back groans. He wasn’t successful, and by the time they were a few feet away from the cave, where he’d left his wallet, Felicity was crying, silently, the tears streaming down her face.

  He couldn’t stand any more, and he lowered himself to the ground in something more like a crash. She stumbled over to him, presumably to help him, but he just folded her into him.

  She let out a sob, and then another, and Gage held her while she cried—while he kept an eye on the mouth of the cave.

  He was pretty sure Ace was completely incapacitated, but he wouldn’t put it past the man to magically heal himself and come out of that cave whole and ready to fight.

  “We should head back,” Felicity said, her voice a squeak.

  “Not sure I can do that. Let’s just wait.”

  “It’s getting dark. They might not see the trail.”

  Gage held her close despite the pain ricocheting in his body. “They will. They will. Let’s just rest up a bit.” He felt like he was fading, but he held on to Felicity and she snuggled into him as they waited.

  It didn’t take too terribly long. The sun was beginning to set when he saw someone in the distance.

  “There shouldn’t be just one person,” Felicity said, fear and concern lacing her tone. She got to her feet. “I only see one figure.”

  “They might have split up to track.”

  “I left my father, Gage. He was hurt. But it could be him. He said he didn’t kill anyone. Didn’t even seem to know about someone being dead.”

  “But Tuck said he ID’d the body.”

  “I know. I know. I don’t understand any of this, and if Ace dies, we may never know.”

  “If Ace is dead, Felicity, everything will be okay. That I can promise you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Brady reached them first, then was able to radio emergency services with directions. Though she protested, Felicity was whisked away to the hospital just like Ace and Gage.

  She was discharged a lot quicker than they were, and then bustled away to the Knight Ranch, where Duke and Rachel and Sarah fluttered all over her before forcing her to go to bed.

  Felicity hadn’t slept. She tried. She closed her eyes, lay completely still and emptied her mind of everything. But in that numbness she couldn’t find the release of sleep.

  Still, she stayed in bed for a full eight hours. Awake. After that exercise in futility she was up and ready to just...do anything else.

  Sarah was at her door before Felicity had even made it across the floor.

  “You shouldn’t be up.”

  “I stayed put eight hours,” Felicity said, wincing at how much she sounded like a whining child.

  Sarah’s expression was disapproval, but she didn’t push Felicity back to bed, so that was something.

  “Is Gage home?”

  Sarah nodded. “I just talked to Dev. They released him this morning. Brady took him home and Grandma Pauline’s ordered him to bed. Tuck is staying at the hospital to make sure police are guarding Ace at all times.”

  “So...” Felicity had to say it, had to accept the strange dichotomy of feelings swirling inside of her. “Ace is alive.”

  Sarah nodded, a scowl on her face. “He went through surgery. The prognosis isn’t great, but the longer he survives, the higher his chance of survival goes. Or so says Brady.”

  “I want to see Gage.”

  “Duke—”

  “I’m going over there,” Felicity said. She didn’t know what it would do. She’d be fussed over there just as much as here, but...

  She only knew what she had to do.

  Sarah convinced her to take a shower first, and Felicity knew that while she was showering, Sarah was likely telling Duke what Felicity planned.

  He’d want her to stay put, but she just couldn’t.

  When Felicity was out of the shower, dressed and ready to go, Sarah was waiting for her in the kitchen.

  “I hope you’re not missing chores for this.”

  “Chores can be made up. Besides, I’m just going to drive you over. Then I’ll come back and do my work. Duke or I will pick you up later.”

  “You both know the doctor said I was fine.”

  Sarah pursed her lips as if considering what to say in response, an odd thing for outspoken Sarah. Eventually she just shook her head. “Come on.”

  They drove to the Reaves Ranch. Felicity insisted Sarah not walk her to the door. If it had been Rachel or Duke, insisting wouldn’t matter, but Sarah understood something about a woman needing to do things on her own two feet. “Felicity?”

  Felicity paused before she slipped out of the car. She looked at Sarah, who kept her head straight ahead and her shoulders hunched practically up to her shoulders. Which Felicity knew meant she was going to say something genuin
e and meaningful.

  “I hope you know you don’t have to go through this alone.”

  Since it made her want to cry, especially coming from Sarah, Felicity shook her head. “What I was going through is over,” Felicity replied, and got out of the car.

  It might have been the biggest lie she’d ever told, but it felt right to say it. She walked across the yard and stepped into Pauline’s kitchen without knocking—Pauline considered knocking a grave offense among her friends.

  “There’s a girl,” Pauline greeted, standing in her normal spot by the stove. “You’re looking peaked yet.”

  Felicity forced a smile. “I’m all right. Where’s Gage?”

  “Upstairs,” Brady answered from his seat at the table, a mug of coffee next to his elbow and his phone out in front of him. “Still asleep or should be.”

  “Can I go see him?”

  “Let’s give him some time yet,” Grandma Pauline said, nudging Felicity into a chair. A plate loaded with a country breakfast appeared in front of her.

  Felicity could hear the sounds of little girls playing in the living room, so Gigi and Brianna were here, which meant Liza and Nina were, too.

  She stared at the plate, knowing she should eat it for Grandma Pauline’s sake. But despite her internal coaxing, she couldn’t seem to force herself into actually doing it.

  The back door opened and Dev stepped in, stomping his boots on the mat. “Any news?” he asked.

  Brady shook his head. “Not since the last.”

  “Why are they trying to save the SOB?” Dev groused. “Worthless waste of resources.”

  “Doctors take a vow to heal anybody,” Brady lectured.

  Felicity felt numb. She didn’t know why. Everything she’d done was what she’d had to do. Leave her father to die. Shoot Ace. She’d had to do all those things, and if two monsters ended up dead, didn’t that make her a hero?

  But she didn’t feel good. She didn’t even feel terrible. She felt empty, and being here didn’t help.

  She just wanted to see Gage. Make sure he was all right. If she did that, maybe everything would click back into place somehow. Maybe she wouldn’t feel as though she were walking through a cloud.

  Dev sat down and ate his breakfast, and Brady poked around on his phone and drank his coffee.

  No one tried to fill the silence with conversation. The only sounds were the girls in the other room and Grandma Pauline cleaning up after breakfast.

  After typing furiously on his phone, Brady set it down and cleared his throat. “Jamison and Cody are on their way back to rest up for a bit before heading out again.”

  “Did they find my father?” Felicity asked, even though she knew the answer. Why would they head back out if he’d been found?

  “No. Not yet. A few agencies are still looking, though. And they’ll keep at it.”

  “He should be where I left him.” They’d told her they hadn’t found him when she’d been at the hospital last night, but she’d hoped by morning things would change. Daylight would make finding him so much easier.

  Maybe the numbness would go away once she knew what had happened to him. “I don’t understand why he wouldn’t be.”

  “It could be he tried to find a way out, a way to safety. There are a lot of possibilities, Felicity. You said your father didn’t kill that woman.”

  “That’s what he said.” She had no reason to believe it, no reason not to. What did it matter? Obviously, Ace had set him up one way or another.

  “We’ll keep looking for him.”

  Felicity nodded, the knot in her stomach becoming tighter and heavier.

  “If you’re worried or don’t feel safe, you can stay here. We can—”

  “I’m not worried. There’s no reason to worry.” She stood and pushed away from the table with too much force—everyone in the kitchen looked at her and it made her skin crawl with the feel of their stares and assessment. “I need to talk to Gage. That’s okay, right?”

  Brady’s brow furrowed, but he nodded. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  Felicity didn’t even wait for instructions. She didn’t know which room Gage would be in, but she’d figure it out. Of course, as she stepped into the living room heading for the stairs, Liza and Nina stopped her.

  Liza enveloped her in a hug almost immediately. “We’re so glad you’re okay.” She pulled back and studied Felicity’s face. “You need to sleep.”

  Felicity tried to muster a smile. She didn’t bother to lie to Liza, who’d always seen through them all with a mother’s knowledge. “I tried.”

  It had been hard to lose Liza when she’d gone back to the Sons to save her half sister. Hard to have her back, too. Felicity hadn’t fully accepted Liza’s return at first—she’d still felt a little hurt and betrayed. In the moment, she couldn’t access any of that bitterness.

  She was just glad someone could see through her. If someone could, maybe she’d make sense of herself, eventually.

  “What’s wrong with Aunt Felicity?” Brianna asked, forgetting her dolls with Gigi and coming to stand next to her mother. “Did Grandma Pauline make you some magic cocoa?”

  Felicity managed a smile and slid a palm over the girl’s flyaway blond hair. It was amazing how quickly and easily Brianna had slid into the family. Despite spending her first almost seven years away from Cody and the Wyatts, she’d had no problem accepting he was her father, accepting the crowd of aunts and uncles she now had.

  It warmed Felicity some to remember what family and love could do. “No magic cocoa yet. I’m going to go check on Gage first.”

  “His head got smashed,” Gigi said seriously.

  “Not exactly,” Liza replied on the long-suffering sigh of a frustrated parent. “The Wyatt boys need to learn to choose their words a little bit more wisely around small ears.”

  “Can we go up and see Uncle Gage?” Brianna asked. “I can give him my magic necklace.”

  “Uncle Gage has his own magic for now,” Nina said. “We call them high-voltage painkillers that make him sleepy. You go on up, Felicity. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”

  Liza linked her arm with Felicity’s. “I’ll show you which room.”

  That tone, which meant I’ll drag all of your secrets out of you had Felicity hesitating. “I can find the room. I—”

  “Come on now,” Liza said cheerfully, pulling Felicity toward the stairs.

  Felicity had no choice. Liza pushed her in front to take the narrow staircase first, and she followed right behind.

  “You know, Brady had to sedate him to keep him from charging over to the Knight Ranch and seeing you this morning.”

  For the first time in something like twelve hours, Felicity felt something pierce the numbness. Not much, but a little spread of warmth. “Oh.”

  “Oh.”

  “That’s what I said. Oh.”

  “Felicity.” Liza stopped her at the top of the stairs. “As someone who’s been on the receiving end of a Wyatt man’s concern, that was not friendly concern.”

  “What was it then?”

  Liza narrowed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. A very formidable mom look. “Care. Serious, love-type care.”

  “Love.” Felicity’s face got hot and the word came out like a croak. She didn’t particularly want to feel embarrassment, but she supposed it was nice to feel anything. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “Am I?”

  “Yes. He just kissed me is all.”

  “Is all.” Liza took Felicity by the shoulders before she could continue down the hall. “But you’ve always liked Brady.”

  “I...” Felicity looked imploringly down the hallway. “I didn’t even really know Brady, you know? It was just a safe crush.”

  “There is nothing safe about a Wyatt.”

  Liza laughed at
the horrified look that must have crossed Felicity’s face. Then she pulled Felicity into a hug.

  “Babe, you shot Ace. There isn’t anything safe about you, either. Revel in that a bit.” She pulled her back. “You saved Gage’s life. But this one? It’s still yours. Don’t—”

  “It isn’t like that.” Felicity didn’t have the words, but she knew what she felt, what Liza was worried about. “It isn’t like that. You know... How it feels like no one understands you? Deep down, I think all us foster sisters could have understood each other, but we were too self-absorbed to realize that. We weren’t mature enough or something to access understanding, even when we had love.”

  Liza nodded sadly. “It’s hard to see past your nose when you’re that young, and that wounded.”

  Felicity nodded. It hurt she hadn’t realized it before, but at least she understood it now. “He’s the only person to make me recognize other people understand what I was feeling. To suck me out of feeling like I’m the only one who knows what certain things are like. To actually look and see all of me, not some half version. It’s not transferring feelings or anything. It’s... He just got me. And that matters. Does that make sense?”

  Liza nodded, her eyes suspiciously shiny. “All the sense in the world.”

  * * *

  GAGE STRUGGLED TO wake up. Something had changed. In the air. Inside of him. Something had changed, and he had to wake up to figure it out.

  When he finally managed to blink his eyes open, the room swam. Back at the ranch. Last night at the hospital was a vague blur, but Brady had driven him home this morning, with strict orders to rest and heal.

  It didn’t sound so bad in the moment, his temples pounding and his mouth dry as dust. His body ached everywhere. He was pretty sure his hair hurt.

  Then a cool hand brushed his forehead, featherlight and soothing. He sighed into it a moment, half convinced it was some guardian angel.

  But God knew he didn’t have one of those.

  He managed to move his head, and there was Felicity, sitting on the floor next to his bed. All he could see of her was her red hair, and the arm she’d put up on his bed to stroke his forehead.